As The Commune’s name suggests, director Thomas Vinterberg sets the tale of the social experiment in mid-1970s Denmark and leans in close to anatomize the marital fallout.
As much of The Commune takes place around the dining table, where the group assembles for meals and house meetings that vote on everything from beer and weekly chores to how much rent members should pay according to their earnings, as it does in the satellites of the collective's various bedrooms.
As the film's name suggests, director Thomas Vinterberg sets the tale of the social experiment in mid-1970s Denmark and leans in close to anatomize the marital fallout. The problem is it's not that bizarre a love triangle and the interesting tangle of supporting stories and complications get short shrift by focusing there in the second half. Trine Dyrholm (The Celebration) is always exceptional but here as a femme d'un certain age in both home and career letting it all fall apart, she is incandescent, with a stillness that transcends the histrionics around her.
She joins the ranks of Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Helen Mirren and could share marquee with Opening Night's Gena Rowlands. A riveting woman on the verge.
Nathalie Atkinson